On February 15, the Greek Parliament finally approved the law recognizing marriage equality and allowing adoptions for same-sex couples. After two days of intense debates in parliament, Prime Minister Mitsotakis announced the positive outcome of the vote (176 in favor).
The news triggered a wave of emotions among Greek citizens, who celebrated in the streets with joy and emotion for this important step forward. However, there were protests from some sectors of society, including supporters of the Orthodox Church and the far right. Despite the protests, same-sex marriage became law on February 15.
This is a milestone for the civil rights of the Greek state, as it is the first majority Orthodox Christian country in the world and the 16th European country to recognize the marriage of same-sex couples, as well as the 37th country in the world to legalize adoption by same-sex couples. The strong opposition of the Orthodox Church (still very influential in Greece) could do nothing against the 176 votes in favor of this bill.
The first steps in this direction were taken in 2015, when the Tsipras government allowed civil unions, which however do not offer the same legal guarantees and securities as marriage. In same-sex families, only the biological parent was considered the guardian of the child, while the other remained practically a stranger.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, despite belonging to the conservative party, has made same-sex marriage one of the fundamental elements of his second term. Now, "invisible people will finally become visible and their children will have the same rights as other children."
There have been grumblings. As already highlighted, the Greek Orthodox Church strongly opposed this bill, accusing Mitsotakis of wanting to "subvert the foundations of society". The leaders of the Orthodox Church even threatened to excommunicate anyone who voted in favor of the law.
At the same time, some criticism has also been voiced by parties in favor of this bill (Syriza). Stefanos Kasselakis has indeed pointed out how this bill does not recognize same-sex couples the right to assisted reproduction and surrogacy (a right guaranteed in Greece only to single women and heterosexual couples). At the same time, this law does not provide for the recognition of non-binary identities.
However, it is even more significant that in Greece the legalization of civil marriages between same-sex couples occurred during the term of a center-right prime minister. This demonstrates that when it comes to human rights and democracy, we should all agree, regardless of political affiliation. This is because we are talking about human rights, rights that every person has as a human being.
However, while Greece is making significant progress towards LGBTQ+ rights equality, the situation in Italy remains unchanged. The recognition of civil marriages and adoptions for same-sex couples is still a distant goal, with Italian legislation not yet following the example of other European countries in guaranteeing these fundamental rights.
Greece's was a step forward for equality, justice, and love. The road is still long, but this is at least a beginning.
There are countries that have not yet taken this first step.
Mondo Internazionale APS - All Rights Reserved
Translated by Stefania Errico
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L'Autore
Giorgia Milan
Giorgia Milan, classe 1998, ha conseguito una laurea triennale in “scienze politiche, relazioni internazionali e governo delle amministrazioni”, con una tesi riguardo la condizione femminile in Afghanistan, e successivamente una laurea magistrale in “Human rights and multi-level governance”, con una tesi riguardo la condizione delle donne rifugiate nel contesto dell’attuale guerra Russo-Ucraina, il tutto presso l’Università degli studi di Padova.
I suoi interessi principali sono i diritti umani, in particolare i diritti delle donne. È proprio il forte interesse per questi temi che l’ha spinta a intraprendere un tirocinio universitario presso il Centro Donna di Padova, durante il quale ha avuto la possibilità di approcciarsi al mondo della scrittura e della creazione di contenuti riguardanti la violenza di genere e le discriminazioni.
In Mondo Internazionale Post Giorgia Milan è un'autrice per l'area tematica di Diritti Umani.
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LGBT+ matrimoni civili